About the Challenge

On Memorial Day 2014 (25 May) I completed the Murph Challenge with 30 of my closest military friends at Desert Dome CrossFit located on NSA Bahrain. It's an extremely difficult workout, but you do it to honor an American Hero, LT Michael Murphy, USN. His WOD was just the beginning to this challenge.

After reading everyone's post on Facebook that night in regards to remembering the fallen and supporting our troops, I came up with the idea to honor our Heroes for the entire year by doing each of the Hero WODs posted by CrossFit.com on the day that the Hero was killed. As soon as I came up with the idea, I looked up all the WODs to see when my next one would be. Of course, the next WOD was the next day! Still incredibly sore from completing the Murph, I completed the next WOD, “Gator,” and the following day, another Hero WOD, “Hamilton”. After my first two WODs and the support I got from family and friends, I've decided that this would be a really awesome opportunity to raise money for a charity that continuously supports our troops, the Wounded Warrior Project.

Over the next year, I will be completing 125 Hero WODs. If you know anything about CrossFit, or anything about the Hero WODs, you know they are tougher then most workouts. They make you hurt. They make you suffer. They make you work harder and longer. And you do it because you are honoring one of our fallen, a Hero. Every time I set out in the gym to do a Hero WOD, I think to myself, "this is going to suck. It's going to suck really badly. But it could always be worse." And keeping the Hero in the back of my mind seems to help push me that much harder and that much faster through the workout.

I'm reaching out to my friends and family to help support me over the next year. My goal is to raise $10,000 for The Wounded Warrior Project AND complete all 125 Hero WODs. You can support by donating to my fundraiser, motivating me through a WOD, or joining me in a WOD…or two…or the whole year! Any support you can offer is truly appreciated. I will be donating $10 for every WOD I complete. You can also make a pledge to donate for each WOD completed, as I will be posting them here after each one is done. Also, for the CrossFit community out there, in order for me to complete this challenge I will need you support. I will be leaving Desert Dome CrossFit early June and will be traveling to Maryland for a couple of weeks then off to Monterey, Ca the end of June, where I will be stationed for the next 2 years. During these times, and once in Monterey, I will need the support of local boxes to be able to complete these WODs. I will have some equipment at my new house so I can do them on my own, but I don't have everything I will need. If I'm in your area, and you wouldn't mind letting me come workout in a corner of your box to accomplish this challenge, I would really appreciate it. Or if you would like to host a Hero WOD and help me raise some money that would be awesome!! Below is a list of all the Heroes and the dates they were killed, which are the same dates I will be doing the WODs.

As you can see from below, some weeks are harder then others, some days have multiple Heroes to honor. That’s what makes this challenge so tough. The war isn’t over either. As CrossFit.com posts new Heroes I will add them to the list. If their anniversary date hasn’t passed, they will be honored on the date they were killed. If the date has passed, I will still add them and complete them prior to the end of the challenge. For a description of each Hero WOD, checkout CrossFit.com.
Please pass this on to anyone and everyone you know and help support the Hero WOD Challenge!

26 May- “Gator” ---> Completed!
28 May- “Hamilton” ---> Completed!
31 May- “Alexander” ---> Completed!
6 June- “Don”
6 June- “Smykowski”
7 June- “Rankel”
8 June- “Daniel”
20 June- “Stephen”
24 June- “Loredo”
25 June- “Bradshaw”
25 June- “Del”
28 June- “JT”
28 June- “Michael”
30 June- “Hotshots 19”
3 July- “Bulger”
6 July- “Jason”
6 July- “Wilmot”
8 July- “Roy”
13 July- “Moon”
18 July- “Santigo”
21 July- “Ryan”
24 July- “Justin”
28 July- “Ledesma”
29 July- “Holbrook”
1 August- “Ralph”
2 August- “Luce”
2 August- “Severin
4 August- “Garrett”
4 August- “Jared”
6 August- “Brian”
6 August- “Strange”
6 August- “Tumilson”
8 August- “DG”
8 August- “Falkel”
8 August- “Hortman”
8 August- “TK”
10 August- “Nukes”
11 August- “Erin”
18 August- “Collin”
22 August- “Dobogai”
23 August- “Adrian”
23 August- “Tully”
30 August- “Arnie”
30 August- “Hollyman”
30 August- “Mr. Joshua”
5 September- “Meadows”
7 September- “Ship”
8 September- “Helton”
8 September- “Johnson”
9 September- “Weaver”
10 September- “Tyler”
11 September- “Glen”
21 September- “Blake”
26 September- “Morrison”
29 September- “Jack”
29 September- “JAG 28”
5 October- “Ricky”
14 October- “Tom”
15 October- “Jerry”
22 October- “White”
26 October- “Forrest”
29 October- “Weston”
31 October- “Brenton”
2 November- “Zimmerman”
4 November- “McClusky”
5 November- “Lumberjack 20”
14 November- “Zeus”
22 November- “Sean”
25 November- “War Frank”
2 December- “Abbate”
6 December- “Rahoi”
10 December- “Nick”
11 December- “Badger”
23 December- “Nutts”
30 December- “CIA 7”
3 January- “Bradley”
23 January- “Moore”
26 January- “Gallant”
29 January- “Thompson”
2 February- “Whitten”
4 February- “Nate”
6 February- “Randy”
8 February- “Carse”
12 February- “Small”
13 February- “Tommy V”
13 February- “Wittman”
14 February- “Hansen”
20 February- “DT”
20 February- “Hidalgo”
27 February- “Josh”
28 February- “Cameron”
28 February- “Forge”
12 March- “Dae Han”
15 March- “Clovis”
17 March- “Adambrown”
18 March- “Barraza”
18 March- “Brehm”
21 March- “Danny”
22 March- “JJ”
24 March- “RJ”
29 March- “Taylor”
2 April- “Roney”
3 April- “Griff”
4 April- “Dragon”
4 April- “Paul”
13 April- “Donny”
22 April- “Omar”
22 April- “Walsh”
23 April- “Santora”
24 April- “Bruck”
26 April- “Lee”
27 April- “Coe”
27 April- “Klepto”
29 April- “Manion”
5 May- “Bull”
10 May- “Hammer”
11 May- “Willy”
11 May- “Zembiec”
12 May- “Desforges”
13 May- “McGhee”
15 May- “Joshie”
18 May- “Pheezy”
23 May- “Wood”
24 May- “Coffey”
25 May- “Murph”